by Fr. Jonathan H. Cholcher
Fasting heals gluttony. This is a spiritual law. Because gluttony is an ever-present temptation and common malady among us sinners, fasting must be an ever-present practice in the war against sin. Make no mistake about it, as Christians we are engaged in a war against sin, and this is a struggle to the death, either the death of sin or our spiritual death and separation from the eternal life given by God in Jesus Christ.
“Beloved, I beg you as sojourners and pilgrims, abstain from fleshly lusts which war against the soul…Therefore, since Christ suffered for us in the flesh, arm yourselves also with the same mind, for he who has suffered in the flesh has ceased from sin, that he no longer should live the rest of his time in the flesh for the lusts of men, but for the will of God…Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour” (1 Peter 2:11; 4:1-2; 5:8).
“Where do wars and fights come from among you? Do they not come from your desires for pleasure that war in your members? You lust and do not have. You murder and covet and cannot obtain. You fight and war. Yet you do not have because you do not ask. You ask and do not receive, because you ask amiss, that you may spend it on your pleasures. Adulterers and adulteresses! Do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with God? Whoever therefore wants to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God” (James 4:1-4).
Notice how fasting (abstinence from lust of pleasure in the form of food and drink) is joined to prayer. This too is a spiritual law. Our Lord teaches, “However, this kind (i.e., this demon) does not go out except by prayer and fasting” (Matthew 17:21). Fasting conjoined with prayer constitutes true sobriety, that is, watchfulness, vigilance. “Be chaste and sober in your prayers” (1 Peter 4:7). Chastity, the sum of virtuous living, literally entails “whole-mindedness” (Gk., sōphrosynē); sobriety entails “watchfulness” (Gk., nēpsis). We cannot remain chaste and sober to seek out God if we are stuffed and drunk with the things of this world.
Over-eating and over-drinking spawn many other sins: strife, envy, greed, fornication (sexual impurity), unbelief, idolatry, etc. The cycle of sin is vicious and unrelenting; thus, our practice of fasting and prayer must be unrelenting.
The Church practices a common fasting season for 40 days prior to Christmas precisely for this reason. The Nativity, or Advent (Lat., arrival (of Christ)), Fast trains us for the ultimate victory in Christ, the goal of our very life and existence. “And everyone who competes for the prize is temperate (lit., self-controlled) in all things. Now they do it to obtain a perishable crown, but we for an imperishable crown…But I discipline my body and bring it into subjection” (1 Corinthians 9:25, 27).
Christ Jesus came into this world not to indulge Himself in the things of this world, but to free it from self-indulgence in order to serve the eternal God. Prior to Christmas, the feast of our Lord’s birth in the flesh from the Virgin, we therefore strive to put down our own self-indulgence and bondage to things merely of this world which “is passing away” (1 Corinthians 7:31; 1 John 2:17). This Fast is 40 days long in imitation of our Lord who, after His baptism in the Jordan River, “was led by the Spirit into the wilderness, being tempted for forty days by the devil. And in those days He ate nothing” (Luke 4:1-2).
Christ’s “forty days…in the wilderness” recalls Israel’s 40 years of wandering in the wilderness before its entrance into the Promised Land. “Now you shall remember the whole way the Lord your God led you in the desert, to deal harshly with you and test you, to know what was in your heart, whether you would keep His commandments or not. So He dealt harshly with you and weakened you with hunger, and fed you with manna, which your fathers did not know, that He might make you know that man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word proceeding from the mouth of God man shall live” (Deuteronomy 8:2-3; cf. Luke 4:4).
During the Nativity (Advent) Fast, the Church willingly submits itself to a test, somewhat harsh (at least seemingly to some). We test ourselves through fasting to reveal our true desires in this life, that by faith we desire the things of God and His word above all else, if we are to attain to everlasting life in Christ. We are on a journey to the kingdom of God, a “heavenly country” (Hebrews 11:16); therefore, “let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which so easily ensnares us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking unto Jesus” (Hebrews 12:1-2).
During the Nativity Fast, the Church does not prescribe total abstinence from food and drink throughout the forty days, although this has been done not only by our Lord Jesus, but also by Moses and Elijah among others (see Exodus 34:28; 3 Kingdoms 19:8). Rather, we are enjoined to abstain from certain types of foods and drinks, strictly (according to the canons), all animal flesh and dairy products (e.g., milk, cheese, eggs), wine and alcoholic drinks, and olive oil (i.e., fried foods). This means to maintain a moderate and simple diet tending not to inflame the passions which crave luxury and pointless curiosity. Do this according to your ability in consultation with your spiritual father (Priest).
Think of all the Christmas (holiday) parties in which the world participates prior to Christmas. What do these really have to do with the incarnation of the Son of God for the salvation of the world? They are occasions for frivolity, excess, and self-gratification. The entire pre-Christmas system of the world, at least in our western culture, is designed primarily to promote pagan mythology, hyper-possessiveness, and human sentimentality, exact opposites of the truth of Christ in His saints, love of neighbor, and the love of God.
It is more important than ever for Orthodox Christians to keep the Nativity Fast in the genuine spirit of anticipation in the Feast, which is “Christ in you, the hope of glory” (Colossians 1:27). Through fasting and prayer, we must prove ourselves genuine in the Faith. During the Fast we strive to put away all that distracts us from Christ, and we strive to put on all that leads us to Christ. Our abstaining from various foods and drinks becomes a tool for heart-felt repentance (Confession) and greater participation in the services of God’s House, the service of our neighbors and fellow men, keeping the commandments of Christ, meditating on the Word of God, and attention to and care of the natural world around us created by God.
Far from being just a negative thing, we discover through experience that fasting is very positive. “At the end of ten days (of keeping their fast), their countenance was observed, and [Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah] were more fit and stronger in body than the young men who ate at the king’s table…As for these four young men, God gave them understanding and insight in all letters and wisdom, and He gave Daniel understanding in all visions and dreams” (Daniel 1:15, 17).
“Now says the Lord your God, ’Turn to Me with all your heart, with fasting and wailing and with mourning; rend your heart and not your garments. Return to the Lord your God, for He is merciful and compassionate. He is longsuffering and plenteous in mercy and repents of evils. Who knows if He will return and change His mind – if He will leave a blessing behind Him, even an offering and drink-offering to the Lord our God?’” (Joel 2:12-14).
“’I did not choose such a fast (i.e., seeking your own will),’ says the Lord; ‘rather, loose every bond of wrongdoing; untie the knots of violent dealings; cancel the debts of the oppressed; and tear apart every unjust contract. Break your bread for the hungry, and bring the homeless poor into your house. If you see a naked man, clothe him, nor shall you disregard your offspring in your own household. Then your light shall break forth as the morning, and your healing shall spring forth quickly. Your righteousness shall go before you, and the glory of God shall cover you’” (Isaiah 58:6-8).
Finally, the Orthodox do not fast to be seen by men (see Matthew 6:16-18). Fasting and prayer, like any virtue, are functions of faith and humility; they are functions of Christ Jesus who does not seek earthly adulation, but to give glory to God. God sees what we’re trying to do. He knows the heart. During this Nativity Fast, without fanfare, we march together in the grace of the Holy Spirit to fulfill God’s holy will in the exercise of the new life given us in Jesus Christ our Lord.
